Car Accident Injury Study Shows Inadequate Seat Belt Use

Our Atlanta, Georgia car accident lawyers frequently review cases in which the occupants of cars have suffered severe injuries or death while not wearing seat belts. In many of these cases the injuries could have been prevented had seat belts been in use.
Fatality figures released Monday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reveal that more than two-thirds of young drivers and passengers killed in nighttime car crashes aren’t wearing seat belts.
According to the report, seat belt use actually is rising slightly nationwide. Total belt use rose to 82 percent last year from 81 percent in 2006. Twelve states had rates of 90 percent or better, led by Hawaii and Washington. Only three were below 70 percent: Arkansas, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
But the news is still disturbing. Sixty-eight percent of drivers and passengers between the ages of 16 and 20 who were killed in car crashes at night in 2006 were unbuckled. During daytime, 57 percent of the young motorists and passengers who were killed were not wearing seat belts.
The problem isn’t limited to young people. The percentage of unbuckled drivers and passengers who died at night is well up in the 60s through the age of 44. It declines to 52 percent for people 55-64 and 41 percent for those older than that.
Some young people said peer pressure can sometimes play a role in teens not buckling up.